'No room for corrupt politicians to survive in Govt'

Sunday Meeting by Shanika Sriyananda

The Secretary General of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and Minister of Agriculture and Agrarian Services Maithreepala Sirisena challenging the political parties, which claim to bring the escalating cost of living (CoL) down, to announce ways and means to make the consumers happy said that it would never happen under any government.

In an interview with the Sunday Observer he said that as a responsible government it was mandated to look into bribery and corruption issues seriously and there would not be any room for corrupt politicians to survive in the government. "We will do justice without considering the social status or the position of these people who engaged in bribery and corruption", he said.

Meanwhile, he said that the main two issues - the CoL and charges on bribery and corruption - had become a major political agenda in the Mahinda Rajapaksa government.

Following are excerpts of the interview:

Q: Rising Cost of Living (CoL) and charges on bribery and corruption are the two main allegations levelled against the government by the UNP and the JVP. What is the position of the government regarding these two allegations ?

A: As a Minister in this government what I want to say is that if there are allegations against the government institutions or an individual over bribery and corruption the government is not willing to pardon them. None can escape from the charges of bribery and corruption.

The investigations against these charges should be commenced. Justice should be brought through law enforcement authorities and the Courts, Police, Attorney General's Department and Bribery Commission should carry out investigations.

If the Opposition or any political party or the people of this country want a Parliamentary Select Committee to look into these matters as a responsible government we are ready to appoint such committees to do justice. The other fact is that as a government we cannot escape facing such allegations.

The people of this country have given a mandate to us and we have a responsibility to keep that promise. We will do justice without considering the social status or the position of these people who engaged in bribery and corruption.

However, it is sad to note that making allegations over bribery and corruption has now become a political campaign. And it has also become a part of a wide publicity campaign and under this program everyone is a thief.

Apart from charging the government for bribery and corruption they also say that the Ministers have luxurious lives. We know the kind of luxury lives we have. We became Ministers not to spend rosy lives as the Ministers in the developed world. People think that Ministers travel in Benz cars. But still I do not have a Benz car.

Q: Can the government simply reject the charges of bribery and corruption or do you think that there is a political agenda behind these charges ?

A: Yes: There are political agendas behind these allegations and it is very clear now. That is why I reiterated that if there are any charges against the government officials the government is ready to bring them before the law. As a responsible government we cannot keep silence.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa won the election because of his personality. People will judge the politicians by their principles and during the last election people realised, when compared to Mahinda Rajapaksa and Ranil Wickremesinghe that the most suitable candidate to become the leader of the country was Mahinda Rajapaksa as he came from the village.

And when Ranil Wickremesinghe was in power what people realised was that he strictly followed the Western culture.

However, why I say that these charges are due to a political agenda is that the UNP has now drawn a plan to attack the Mahinda Rajapaksa government .

So what they do now is that they level these allegations to attack the government. And they also want to attack the image of President Mahinda Rajapaksa to destroy that image.

Why those who allege the government for corruption cannot lodge complaints. All these allegations are levelled against the UNP Ministers who crossed the government.

On the other hand they try to create a situation where it shows that the President was involved in corruption. Or the SLFP Ministers engage in corruption. It is important to know who had instructed the COPE about policies of these Ministries. It had happened during Ranil Wickremesinghe's time when he was the Prime Minister and also when he was the Chairman of the Economic Council.

I personally believe if there is bribery and corruption they should be brought before the law. And also if there are obstacles to bring these allegations to the limelight they should be disclosed. It is important to maintain transparency. And I think there is no point just bringing people to streets without a clear vision. Otherwise, clamouring to change the government by saying 'Rata Iwarai, Perata wareu' would be a baseless slogan.

Q: You have just mentioned about the need to take steps against bribery and corruption. So what are the steps that the government has taken so far to reveal the truth about charges against Minister S.M Chandrasena over the Mavil Aru issue and the controversial MiG deal?

A: There is no personal allegation against Minister Chandrasena. I was the first to ask for an investigation on this Mavil Aru issue. This happened after a week after I assumed duties as the Minister. I received a telephone call saying that there was grave corruption at the Agrarian Insurance Board and some were trying to destroy important documents.

As soon as I received the information I went to that office and sealed it. Then I asked the investigation officers of my Ministry and also the Presidential Unit to carry out investigations.

Due to some legal constraints we had to hand over the case to the Criminal Investigations Department for future investigations. Following their investigations the Board Chairman, two directors and some staffers were taken into custody.

Further investigations are on now and the matter is before the Court. The Opposition asked for a select committee for the MiG deal and the Prime Minister had clearly mentioned that a committee would be appointed.

The COPE independently took a decision to complain about the bribery and corruption charges to the Bribery Commission. As a responsible government we have not obstructed or influenced any investigations. If there is something wrong the government is ready to offer the fullest support to conduct investigations and also probe them.

Q: Still you have not given a clear answer about the government stand on the escalating CoL. Do you think that there are no proper plans within the government to bring down the CoL as the Opposition claims?

A: The CoL has never come down during any of the previous governments. But every party at the election stages pledged that the CoL will be brought down if they come to power.

There are no short term solutions to bring down the CoL but there are long term solutions which can do so. Just because the opposition have demonstrations, come to streets, organising rallies or holding placards these would not bring down the cost of living.

The first thing that is needed to implement is a massive production drive to produce locally most of the imported goods.

As a first step towards this the government has launched a massive agro-based three year national program to boost the country's production. We hope that this would bring better results in bringing down the CoL.

The other thing people should understand is that the prices in the world market beyond our control and we have to import oil, milk powder, wheat flour and other food items at higher prices. We cannot have a stable price for them.

If the UNP comes to power tomorrow and if Ranil Wickremesinghe become the President of this country, can he bring down the Col. No. No political party can do that as they promised. I think the only solution for the CoL is implementing a long term plans and I do not see any easy methods to bring down the CoL immediately. That is the bitter truth.

Q: It is known that the UNP is trying topple the government. Are there any SLFP backbenchers who are disappointed with the government and waiting to join the Mangala-Sripathy group to change the government ?

A: According to my knowledge there are no such MPs who have derailed mentality in our government. It is obvious what has happened to those two politicians who crossed over to the UNP.

What did Mangala said recently at a meeting in Anuradhapura, 'This government can be toppled if the JVP gives the support to us. To topple the government it needs 113. If the JVP joins the Opposition, there will be 107 and I could find the balance. If the JVP does not support we would protests against the JVP too". His statement clearly shows that Mangala does not have any say in the SLFP.

They are fighting a losing battle. What I can say about their dream of changing the government is that after the Budget is that the Mahinda Rajapaksa government would remain in office but the UNP would be lose shamefully.

We are confident that the government would be victorious at the Budget.

What would really happen is that the UNP would be in an utter mess and the party will have to start from the bottom after the budget.

Q: Do you think that the government would fail to get a majority in Parliament in the next Budget?

A: No. We are not scared of that as we know and confident that we would get majority votes at the Budget. Those who need to fear is the UNP. They should decide their future after the Budget.

Q: The Organisation of the Professional Association (OPA) has recently accused the political parties for not submitting their recommendations to stop or minimise bribery and corruption. Why didn't the SLFP take part in this important discussion and does this mean that the SLFP still have corrupt politicians ?

A: It is a big mistake by the OPA. Three weeks before, I went to the OPA as the Secretary General of the SLFP, I discussed the matter for more than one and half hours.

I told about party's new recommendations and views to the OPA and also proposed the Association to bring all the party Secretaries to one forum to discuss the ways and means of minimising bribery and corruption. But I do not know why the OPA gave the wrong message.

Q: The CoL and the charges on corruption are the two main subjects in most of the campaigns by the JVP and the UNP. How do you think that the government could face the challenge to win the trust of the people ?

A: Yes, the JVP should also do something for their existence. The other fact is that this is their usual way and they need to have rallies, demonstrations and protesting campaigns for their survival. The UNP does the same for mere survival.

But as a responsible government we are doing the development work amidst of a terrorist war. But we have launched several campaigns to educate the party members and the public to explain the present political situation.

We have planned door-to-door campaigns against the UNP and a major protesting campaign is on the cards and I hope it is too early to announce it.

Q: According to some internal sources, the JVP is divided into two segments now. Is it true and what will be the future of the government if there are two sections of the JVP ?

A: Really I don't know about any plans for a breakaway. According to my knowledge the JVP has not divided into two yet. However I wish that political parties such as the JVP should be united.

Q: It is said that the former President Chandrika Bandaranaike is to enter politics soon. As the Secretary General of the SLFP do you have any information about her arrival ?

A: There are no restrictions to enter politics. So she can do politics and we are happy if she joins us again.

Q: Is it true that she will join another political party but not the SLFP ?

A: These are still rumours. She has the right to join any political party. But she has not informed us officially.